It’s no secret that the Rockies have been struggling with runners on base in some of their recent series. The men in purple went 10-for-55 with runners in scoring position in their rough road trip through Miami and Minnesota, and their penchant for starting rallies and not finishing them has been one of the more annoying parts of the ballclub’s 2022 iteration. So just what is going on? And is there something going on, or is it just recent bias that has fans a bit miffed?
It’s All About the Heat
If you’ve been watching Major League Baseball for the past decade and a half, the decline in fastball usage will be unmistakable:
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23658518/MLB_Fastball____2008_22_.png)
If you don’t include cutters, it’s even more stark, with four-seamers and sinkers making up just half of all pitches, unthinkable just a decade ago.